Property prices hit rock bottom

Property commentators are “quietly confident” that property prices have bottomed out and will steadily increase from here on in.Speaking to Real Estate Business, RP Data’s chief executive officer Graham Mirabito said all the data suggested the property market has hit rock bottom.

“We are starting to see house prices track sideways, which is really good news for the property market. It suggests we have hit the bottom and will now see things improve,” he said.

Earlier this week, RP Data’s Home Value Index recorded the lowest drop in capital city home values in seven months.

The Index, which captured nearly 251,000 sales in the first nine months of 2011 alone, showed the September monthly decline was actually the smallest decline since February 2011 and was crucial in reversing a trend of accelerating capital losses since end March 2011.

Capital city home values fell just 0.2 per cent, while regional house values actually managed to increase, growing 0.1 per cent.

“We are quietly confident this is the bottom, but there are still a few things in the mix to know for sure. We will definitely know whether or not this is the case by February, March,” Mr Mirabito said.